Intangible Idiocy
by Cyan Rubies
Summary: "Oi, Minami, when did you become so annoying?" Rin grumbled, his maroon locks falling by the side of his face. "How am I supposed to know? You were the one who told me to talk more, idiot." Our conversations were awkward when they weren't quarrels, but I can safely say I act like an idiot around you. Rin x OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free! I only own my OCs :D**

 **So welcome to my new story! I hope that you will enjoy it :3 More random stuff from me will be at the author's note down below!**

 **If you want me to continue this story, leave a review, favorite, or follow!**

 **Enjoy...**

* * *

 _ **Prologue**_

 _._

 _"Look for the good in people and respect their journey. Everyone seems to know how someone else should lead their lives, but what about their own?"_

 _._

* * *

 _It all began 4 years ago..._

* * *

Her introduction had been a short, but not necessarily sweet one.

"My name is Minami Aoi. I'm Japanese, but I moved back to Japan from Australia. Hope that we can get along."

She glanced across the class, her blue eyes looking blank, as if she had no feelings upon meeting her new class.

 _"Hey, are you a girl or a boy?"_

The girl halted in her tracks, her expression a poker face as she steadily raised her head to look in the direction of the person who had raised the question.

She had extremely short cherry brown hair that grew just past her ears and rather broad shoulders. Her voice, though rather light and high-pitched, may just have given her an impression of being a pubescent young boy.

The fact that her name, Aoi, was a unisex name, did not help at all. All it seemed to do was to create more confusion on her gender.

Her shoulders slumping by just a little, she gave a sigh as she glanced up, replying as she did so.

"I'm a girl."

Sensing the stares from the other students, Aoi took a seat, refusing to look anywhere else in the classroom except for the board.

* * *

"Ne, who is that, Tachibana-kun?"

Dark magenta eyes stared at the figure currently swimming the front crawl. Hazuki Nagisa stared at the foreign figure, as he looked up at his friend Makoto Tachibana, who in turn fixed his green eyes on the figure.

"Ah, isn't that the transfer student who joined our class a week ago, Haru-chan?"

Haruka Nanase glanced at the figure in the water, as he jerked his head as a response. A smile appeared across Makotos face as his green eyes lit up suddenly, as he lightly tapped his hands together.

"Minami Aoi-kun, was it?"

Haruka gave a glance towards his friend before he closed his eyes momentarily, remarking as he did so.

"She said that she was a girl."

A look of embarrassment flashed across Makoto's face as he sheepishly nodded.

"That's right... Gomen, gomen!"

Nagisa simply had a wondrous look on his face as the exchange took place, his eyebrows furrowing just the slightest. His eyes seemed to reflect pink in all his excitement. It was uncommon for them to come across a girl in the Iwatobi Swim Club, or rather a girl who swam at all.

Makoto spoke again, a thoughtful look present in his eyes.

"About that, sensei mentioned that there would be another transfer student coming in this week..."

Nagisa's eyes widened as he turned towards Makoto, his eyes shining a bright pink.

"Eh?! That sounds so cool! Two transfer students in two weeks! What do you think, Nanase-kun?"

Nagisa turned around, looking around for the stoic black-haired boy, only to spot a second figure swimming in the pool.

"... Nanase-kun?"

.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! So yeah, that was the prologue of Intangible Idiocy.**

 **The next chapter will feature events (Or rather, Matsuoka Rin transferring) from my OC, Minami Aoi's POV.**

 **This is in no way a self-insert. I create my characters, but they're practically different from me in lots and lots of ways.**

 **So this story will be a Rin x OC story. I'm aware that most people do not like OC stories, but I'm going to post this anyway xD**

 **If I happen to update slowly in the future, don't hesitate to bug me over reviews and PMs :D**

 **Hope you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters! :)**

 **-Cyan Rubies**


	2. A New Student

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free!**

 **Set when Rin transferred to that school in Iwatobi.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The First Time**

.

 _"It took me a minute to realize how special you are."_

 _._

* * *

Needless to say, it was difficult to capture Minami Aoi's attention.

Not that she did it on purpose. Aoi was the type of student who _seemed_ to pay attention in class, but most of the time, her mind drifted off by itself. The fact that she sat next to the window didn't help either- There were days she could just stare at the fluffy white clouds and wonder how it would feel like to jump right through. Or maybe take a bite of the clouds, and wonder if they would feel like cotton candy.

Or rather, that was sadly all in her childhood.

When she got to school, her fantasies of eating clouds were unfortunately broken. According to a textbook she found, clouds were just gigantic balls of water vapour and that was all. Curse science for ruining her childhood fantasies! It was sad how quickly children would grow.

Compared to the power of imagination, science was frankly uninteresting. (Not that she hated science, it was just so much more fun to wonder how it would be like it clouds were made of candy, and you can bounce on them, and you could somehow make your way up there in the blue sky and jump from one cloud to another with your buddies, and...)

Ahem. Back to the present.

Today, there would be a new student entering the class. Aoi just came here sometime ago, and this made her wonder if all transfer students came to this class. She was just staring at her math homework that she had taken out and put on the table, wondering how life would be if math could solves its own problems, when her attention was abruptly broken when someone started to speak at the front of the classroom.

"Hello, everyone!"

A lively voice rang out from the front of the classroom, and she immediately felt compelled to look up.

"I'm Matsuoka Rin! I have a girly name, but I'm a boy! Hope we can get along!"

Indeed, the new student was a boy.

He had maroon-colored hair that was fairly long and red eyes, and somehow, his smile seemed extremely... bright. It was stunning to look at, but at the same time it was blinding, but not in a bad way.

A small pinch of curiosity wormed its way into her mind as she looked at Rin. Aoi briefly wondered if his smiles were contagious, because for a moment, the corners of her lips had tugged up on their own accord.

* * *

As Aoi adjusted her goggles, she was quite paranoid in making sure that her goggles didn't slip. She couldn't see well in water, so her prescription goggles were extremely important to her.

(Her eyes weren't that bad, it was just that the water made everything blurrier than it should be.)

It has been 2 weeks since transferring to Iwatobi and moving here to Japan, and Aoi still found the simple routine life of the people here quite intriguing. Japanese culture was more traditional and simple, and Aoi did greatly appreciate that.

Aoi really liked the swimming club, especially the fact they had an indoor pool. It was full of kids her age and some of her new classmates went there, too.

As Aoi briefly started to do some simple stretches to warm herself up, a familiar boy who was currently donning blue goggles dived into the pool. Stoppoing, she could not help but admire how graceful he was in the water.

He did seem familiar, though. Aoi was quite sure she had seen him sitting at the back of class. She didn't interact with him or his green-haired friend, but they did know each other by sight. She was not sure if they recognised her, though. It would be immensely awkward to greet someone and have them say they didn't know you...

Glancing to the side of the pool, she spotted a boy with wavy blond hair and another boy with olive-brown hair, the latter seeming rather familiar.

It was did comprehension dawn on her. The name of the boy currently swimming was Nanase Haruka, while the olive-brown haired boy was Tachibana Makoto. They sat side by side in class. However, she did not recognise the blond-haired boy.

Looking up, she noticed that there was someone walking to the lane next to the one Haruka was currently swimming in. As the person prepared to dive, he abruptly reached to the back of his cap, tugging at the strap of his goggles before he dived into the water.

Aoi noticed the strands of maroon hair by the sides of the person's face, and she watched in curiosity as he caught up to Haruka in a few strides.

Who knew that Rin Matsuoka could swim? He seemed to be skilled at it, too...

As Rin caught up to Haruka, it seemed like Haruka did not want to be beaten as he suddenly put on a burst of speed, propelling just a little ahead of Rin, but Rin was always dangerously close to catching up with Haruka. As both of them started to swim back, seemingly neck to neck, Haruka suddenly overpowered his newfound competitor, reaching forward as he finished his lap and whipped off his cap and goggles, giving his wet black-hair a shake.

His friend with the olive-brown hair then walked up to the pool edge, leaning forward a little as he offered a hand to Haruka. The boy with the blonde hair followed behind him closely, seeming to be extremely excited.

(Aoi could not help but smile at the sweet gesture. It was honestly heart-warming to watch the duo.)

Now that Haruka and Rin were done with their competition-of-sorts, Aoi decided that it was time she began to swim as well. Otherwise, there would be no other place she could swim in a large pool other than the Iwatobi Swim Club. She did have a pool at home, however, it was extremely tiny.

Treading to the water's edge, she tentatively tightened the straps of the goggles again as she positioned herself. As she dived, a serene coolness greeted her and somehow, she felt contented.

Her mind wasn't on hyper-drive, for once.

* * *

 **A/N: As you probably noticed, Aoi is extremely random. Most of the time she is thinking of weird things about the world, so as a result she (accidentally) forgets to socialise.**

 **Note: I assumed that the characters were all around seven. So they are too young to have learnt about clouds and the water cycle and all that... Aoi just found a senior's textbook somewhere and read it D:**

 **Hope you liked the first chapter! :D**

 **Remember to leave a review so I know what you all are thinking xD**

 **-Cyan Rubies**


	3. The First Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free!**

 **Hey guys! Remember to favorite, follow if you want more! Do remember to also review you thoughts and feedback :D**

 **So, the two people in question finally meet. What will happen?**

 **Read on, to find out...**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

.

 _"I'm not shy, I just feel like thinking rather than talking."_

 _._

* * *

The next day, when she was making her way back home, she never imagined that someone would talk to her.

It didn't happen on purpose though. Aoi was just stopping at the side of a hallway to stow away her water bottle when she nearly walked into someone. As she immediately jolted her head up to apologize, her light blue eyes widened as they met red eyes.

On normal circumstances, she would have commented that it was strange to have red eyes. But nearly walking into someone wasn't considered normal at all!

"Sorry about that."

Bowing her head a little, she took a step backwards as she attempted to veer her way around the person in front of her somehow, when she froze in her footsteps and took a closer look, her eyes widening a little bit as they took in semi-long maroon hair and of course, those wide-looking red eyes. In the light that was shining through the corridor, the red eyes took on a crimson gleam, and Aoi couldn't help but think that they looked pretty.

To cut things short, she had bumped into Matsuoka Rin.

"It's alright!"

His reply was bright as he looked at her with those biground eyes, as his mouth broke into a dazzling smile. As Aoi looked up at him in curiosity, he glanced back at her. A small frown appeared on his face as if he was trying to recall something, before his eyes lit up.

"Oh, you were at the Swimming Club yesterday, weren't you? I thought you looked familiar!"

Aoi was caught by surprise. Most people didn't recognize her at all, and when they did... They thought she was a boy. Not that she really minded that much. A small bubble of warmness pooled in her stomach and she looked back at Rin, her eyes wide as she responded, fighting the urge to break out into a goofy smile.

"Yeah, I was. I saw you there, too... You're really good you know?"

Rin looked surprised for a moment, but Aoi didn't blame him. Most people assumed she wasn't a talker, but she did like to talk, just not as much as she enjoyed thinking about weird stuff on her own.

Maybe she might have felt lonely, but she honestly couldn't tell.

As Rin took in the compliment, he gave a small laugh as he bashfully lowered his head, placing his hand on the back of his head. A grin flashed across his head as he then replied, still looking bashful.

"Ah, you saw that?"

Aoi nodded, as Rin continued talking. They had somehow stopped at a nearby stairwell to talk. Rin continued on cheerfully, as he suddenly turned to look at her.

"You know, you're pretty good too! Your stroke's a bit rough, but it's sort of fun to watch you swim!"

Aoi's eyes widened as she wondered if his words were true. Sometimes, to try to avoid being awkward in the water, she was quite forceful when swimming. Was that what Rin meant by being rough?

It felt nice for someone to compliment her swimming, though!

"Thanks. You and Nanase-san were amazing, though. It was really exciting."

At the mention of Haruka, Rin's eyes suddenly lit up, almost to the point that it looked like it would start to glow.

 _Matsuoka-kun, you must really admire Nanase-san, huh?_

"You know, I asked Nanase if he would swim a relay with me in the next school tournament!"

Aoi feel heartened by the amount of anticipation radiating off Rin. She had heard lots of rumours about Haruka, that he was a fast swimmer, and that he only swam 'free'.

"So what did he say?" Aoi looked at the enthusiastic maroon-head, and nearly anticipating the reply.

Suddenly, Rin's face became emotionless as silence ensued, before he slowly turned towards Aoi and blinked.

"I only swim free."

He burst out laughing at his own impersonation of Haruka, as he started to bend over from his bouts of laughter. An image of the stoic black-haired boy appeared in her mind, and soon enough, Aoi found herself starting to laugh as well, her lips splitting into a smile as she slapped her hand over her mouth at the sudden outburst.

Rin looked at her, almost in surprise as he regarded her briefly, before a smile spread across his face. As he shook himself out of it, he grinned as he then remarked casually.

"You know, we should swim together some time. It would be nice."

"That sounds... fun." Strangely, the word felt strange to say.

 **Beep. Beep. Beep.**

Her tiny watch sudden let out a couple of beeps. Looking down, she stared at her watch, fastened out of a thin strip of red plastic. Looking at it imploringly, she blinked, as she tried to recall why she had set that alarm in the first place.

"What's that for?" Rin leaned in and peered at the watch, as if wondering why its alarm had set off.

"Oh. I'm late."

Aoi stated as she suddenly recalled the purpose of setting the alarm in the first place.

"I'm supposed to leave home now to pick up the new pet from the pet shop for Mama. "

Rin blinked as a look of horror appeared in his crimson eyes.

"But you're still in school!" He pointed out.

Aoi shook her head, and her lips curled into a small smile as she glanced at Rin.

"It's alright, it was fun talking to you. I'll just straightaway head there."

Taking a step back, she gave a wave as she started to walk away. A sudden dumbfounded look seemed to cross Rin's face as his eyes widened by a fraction.

"Eh. Is there something on my face?" On instinct, her hand conjured up the white handkerchief from her pocket as she started to hastily wipe at her face, wondering if there was a pencil mark or something.

After a moment of complete silence, Rin finally shook his head.

"No, it's nothing! Do you have a phone, by the way? Let's exchange numbers!"

A puzzled look came across Aoi's face as she looked at him, feeling confused. it was the first time they ever talked, but he wanted to exchange numbers already? Well, it just showed how friendly the maroon-head was.

"I'll give my number to you tomorrow. Sorry, but I have to go."

Aoi felt bad for leaving him behind, but she was already late to run an errand. Surely they could exchange numbers tomorrow in class, right?

Aoi could not help but wonder why Rin was looking so confused. They would see each other during class, right? Was he not coming to school or something? Didn't he know she was in the same class as him? As a precaution, Aoi decided to state it out loud, so as to clear away any confusion he had.

"We're in the same class, right? I'll see you tomorrow, Matsuoka-kun."

Watching the realization dawn on him, she had an extremely strong urge to laugh at the Matsuoka, but then, it was probably her own fault for being practically invisible and having no sense of presence in class.

 _Oops, it's my fault then._

"Oh. I see! See you tomorrow then, Minami!"

"See you."

A trace of a smile in her expression, she gave a small wave towards Rin, before running off, a mixture of feelings bubbling in her chest. Somehow, she felt contented, despite the thick awkwardness between herself and the red-eyed boy.

Somehow, Minami Aoi had talked more in one day than she had last week.

Matsuoka Rin was certainly a strange boy.

.

A sudden series of beeping broke her chain of thoughts as she halted in her tracks as she whipped out her phone.

 _From: Mama (.^.)_

 _'Aoi, have you brought back the new puppy yet? I'm in the city buying supplies for our new pet, will be back in an hour!'_

She could feel her throat constrict in a quick gulp as she glanced at her watch. Aoi could reach the pet shop in about 30 minutes if she ran, and another 30 minutes to reach home with the new dog.

Aoi closed her eyes, giving a heavy sigh as her mother's words rang through her mind.

 _'Aoi, you're a big girl now! Mommy bought you a pet and remember to go pick it up next week, okay!'_

 _'It's going to be so fun',_ she had said.

Aoi could already sense her impending doom.

.

* * *

 **A/N: Firstly thanks to the two Guest-chans who left a review xD Special thanks to Ruyuz for favoriting and Flefleflo for following! It really makes me happy that you all liked my first chapter, and I hope this chapter wasn't that bad :)**

 **Ah, Aoi the antisocial little girl who thinks too much... She might be one of my favorite OCs yet xD**

 **So I took a chance at writing a young, happy, and adorable Rin Matsuoka, shoot me xD I hope he isn't out of character, remember that this was before he turned all depressed and moody. Well, the awkwardness is there, but it's not that bad yet. Aoi is a more serious character while Rin is fluffy and cheerful, so expect more extremely short conversations between them.**

 **I imagine young Rin to be really sociable, judging from his introduction when he first came to Iwatobi, and his interactions with the other characters. I have a question, would it be better if I wrote in third person or first person, or should I write in both?**

 **Do feel free to suggests ideas for Rin and Aoi!**

 **Remember to leave a review, follow and favorite if you enjoyed this so far!**

 **Thank you, and I'll update soon...**

 **-Cyan Rubies**


	4. Time Flies

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free!**

 **Author's note is below. Do give this a review, favorite and follow if you want more!**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _._

 _"The strangest things can bring people together. Separation is unexpected but still to be expected."_

 _._

* * *

 **Aoi's POV**

.

"Oh Aoi~ Bring Puga out for a walk, will you? That's my good girl!"

My mother gave me a bright smile as gestured at the 4 month old pug, as she then pushed a lead towards me without waiting for my reply. She ruffled my short hair before leaving.

I looked blankly at the lead in my hand as I glanced at the little fawn-coloured pug.

Sure, the new pug was adorable, but I could still remember the I attempted to walk it back home from the pet shop. I was already running behind on schedule, and the pug was surprisingly quite... hyperactive. After a while, I had given up on walking it and just picked it up and ran straight home.

The little dog was currently sitting on the floor. I could feel my heart melt as I looked at it's wide-puppy dog eyes.

Suddenly, it started to give a small whine, sounding almost sorrowful, and immediately i felt confused.

Out of intuition, I scanned across the room... Only to spot a big puddle in the middle of the floor.

That's right. Mama and I are still potty-training Puga. Meanwhile, the tiny and troublesome rascal seemed realize that as long as it gave a (cute) puppy-eyed look, it could get away with everything.

Shivering, I went to get some napkins as I wiped the mess off the floor before mopping it, giving my hands a thorough cleaning.

As I grabbed the lead, I recalled Mama telling me to bring along a few plastic bags to clean up after Puga if it... well, did its business out there. It's unpleasant, but still necessary.

It's not like I was doing anything productive, either. My activity sheets was on my table in a neat and untouched pile. Most of it was due next week but I can't seem to sit myself at the table for more than a few hours. Instead, I had been surfing the web on random questions I had thought of, but most of them I didn't understand one part of it while I got the rest.

The current website I was surfing told me why was the sky blue, and I understood more than I did the others, I guess? Maybe the teachers will teach it when we go to middle school.

Seeing my old phone that Mama gave me just so she could contact me at all times, I decided to grab it before I approached Puga slowly, with the intention of securing the lead to her collar.

Puga ran away the moment I approached her.

I gave a small sigh.

.

* * *

After I managed to catch Puga and tie the lead to her collar, I carried her outside before setting her on the ground.

For a pug that ran away from the lead, Puga was quite enthusiastic in running around. Most of the time, I noticed that she tended to forget that she was wearing a lead, and then she would go running straight in a direction even when she was being restrained.

(Honestly, that worried me. A lot.)

As I walked along the road, Puga trotted happily a few metres in front of me. I could feel a faint smile twist upon my lips as I looked at the small puppy.

Bending down, I beckoned Puga towards me as I squatted down and slowly held my hand out towards her. As she have my hand a tentative sniff, she gave it a quick lick. I found myself petting the side of her head, feeling the soft and fluffy fur against my hand.

Dealing with animals was something new to me, but Mama used to own a dog. She seemed to know what to do and what not to do, so most of the time I mimicked her actions, since what Mama did often made sense.

I hardly see her at home, though. Dad is in Australia working, and Mama is always really busy. I guess that was why she got me Puga, so I wouldn't be alone at home.

Our house was gigantic, by the way. We have a mini-pool outside and a patch of garden. But maybe I was just small, so it seemed big.

For a puppy we got only several days ago, Puga warmed up to me quite quickly.

I have no idea how my train of thoughts got to this, but I'm reminded of the fact that I've been in Iwatobi for more than two weeks and I've yet to have any real friends.

It's probably my fault, but I have no idea how to approach anyone. It would be awkward if I approached someone for no reason at all, and it would be more awkward if we had nothing in common.

Well, so far the only people who I'm at least 'acquiantances' with are Rin and Makoto. I've exchanged numbers with Rin but I didn't message him yet. Makoto was nice to everyone, so I have no idea if he considers me an 'acquaintance'.

(Mama taught me that the meaning of acquaintance was a distant friend.)

Puga licked my hand, and I blinked before standing up. As if on cue, Puga trotted a few meters forward again, yipping excitedly as she did so.

.

* * *

"Eh, if it isn't Minami!"

A slightly familiar voice rang out as I looked forward, stopping in my tracks.

Maroon hair and round reddish eyes entered my view as I looked at the person in front of me.

Looking at him, there was a moment of silence as I blinked.

I hadn't thought that I might bump into someone I knew outside. The fact I knew next to no one had strengthened my belief that I would never bump into anyone outside of school. Here I was proven wrong.

"Hello, Matsuoka-kun."

A brilliant smile appeared on his face as he excitedly stepped forward, stooping down as he looked at Puga. It might have just been my imagination but there seemed to be sparkles in his eyes.

"Kawaii... Is this your new puppy, Minami?"

I looked at Rin, and I almost smiled at the adoration radiating from him, before I spoke.

"Her name is Puga. She's a pug, four months old. You can pet her if you want, I think she likes people."

As Rin lifted his hand to place it on top of Puga's head, Puga abruptly gave a sharp whine before backing away a little.

Inwardly, I felt confused and I frowned at the disappointed look that crossed Rin's expression.

Walking over, I squatted down and held out my hand, holding it in front of Puga. If Rin was surprised at my sudden action, I didn't notice it. As Puga sniffed it, I then moved my hand upwards a little, to the side of her head, before petting her, just like how Mama had demonstrated it.

"Try approaching her slowly and avoid petting her directly from above,"

I advised, glancing over to the side. Rin had reached out towards Puga and I could tell he was trying hard not to startle Puga. Very soon, Puga started to give small barks as she jumped up and proceeded to lick Rin's face. After a while, Rin began to laugh as he grinned, at the Puga who seemed to have developed a liking towards the maroon-haired boy.

A smile appeared on my face, and the grin on Rin's face seemed to widen.

Needless to say, we spent the afternoon playing with Puga.

.

* * *

Following that incident, I realised that we didn't talk that much at all.

I still went to swimming club, but we never did swim against each other. It seems like Rin was participating in a relay with Makoto, Nagisa and Haruka, who had finally agreed to participate.

I liked the way all of them swim. From the way the swam, it was quite clear how deep their love for swimming ran. I loved swimming too, but I don't think it can compare to how serious they were while swimming. I can swim the front crawl quite well, followed by breaststroke. I was average in backstroke and simply bad at the butterfly style. I should be forbidden from swimming that stroke at all.

The relay was about two months away. I guess time flew past because I didn't realize the end of the year was approaching until I looked at the calender. The competition would be the last swimming event for the year.

I still didn't have friends, and Rin was still an 'acquaintance' to me. I didn't talk much to him but we occasionally talked about swimming and Puga.

When the last swimming practice before the tournament came, about the week before, I was just doing my warm-ups and adjusting my goggles at the side of the pool when someone called for me.

"Minami!"

I recognized the voice and turned around.

"Hello, Matsuoka-kun."

Rin walked over, stopping when he was standing at the lane next to mine.

"Hey, do you want to race? It's been a few months, and I didn't swim with you yet!"

He flashed me a wide smile as he stated, looking at me imploring, as if eager to hear my reply. His eyes seemed to reflect crimson as I considered the offer.

While I didn't particularly want to race, I couldn't turn him down, either, for some reason. Sighing, I gave him the reply he wanted.

"Okay then."

Rin let out a cheer as he heard my response, before pulling his goggles over his eyes, securing them as he pointed to the giant clock at the side of the pool. I pulled my goggles over my eyes as well. For some reason, I was getting nervous. Pushing my goggles so that they were tighter, I looked at the clock as well.

I decided that I would swim as I normally did. It wouldn't be good if I exhausted myself during the beginning of practice.

"Let's start when the arrow points to 12, okay?"

Jerking my head as a nod, I gave him a side-way glance as I positioned myself to dive in, my eyes fixed on the arrow of the clock.

 _Tick._

 _Tick._

I could hear the snap of the strap of Rin's goggles just as the clock hit 12, and I plunged in, kicking as hard as possible.

For some reason, the moment my race with Rin began, I had forgotten about wanting to swim normally. I was doing quite the opposite, and that was quite puzzling. Fully conscious of Rin half a metre ahead of me, I immediately propelled myself to close the distance.

My arms and legs were burning, unused to my sudden speed, but I kept up at it.

I never did close the slight gap between Rin and I, though. He touched the wall about 5 seconds before I reached the wall.

"Minami, that was great!"

Rin was absolutely exhilarated over his win, and his gigantic smile showed just how triumphant he was feeling. Climbing out of the pool, he offered a hand towards me and I took it.

I felt... pumped up. For some reason, I wasn't upset over losing.

Feeling warmth in my chest, as I looked at him, my face split into a wide smile. For yet another reason, smiling at him seemed quite natural.

"Good job... Matsuoka."

Blinking momentarily, he pulled me out of the pool. The smile on his face told me he was quite happy with the drop of the '-kun' suffix.

.

* * *

Club ended, and for the first time, I felt like I really did my best.

The satisfaction made me realize that this was probably how Rin felt when he swam with Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa.

As I walked home rather hurriedly, seeing as Mama was out working and wouldn't be back until late at night. I left Puga with a big bowl of food and Mama always fed her before she went off to work, but she might still be hungry.

A sudden tap on my shoulder startled me, and I jolted forwards, nearly tripping as I quickly stopped myself before whirling around, tucking a stray strand of extremely short hair behind my ear.

"Oh."

I breathed, looking at the figure behind me.

"You scared me, Matsuoka."

Rin looked sheepish as he scratched at the back of his head as he replied.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to."

Looking at him, I blinked before asking.

"What's wrong?"

The troubled expression on his face worried me.

Rin shook his head, before replying.

"I'll talk about it later... Can I walk with you?"

That was right, I lived quite near to him. I also learnt that he had a younger sister, but I've never met her before.

Maybe the reason Rin wanted to race me today was to take his mind off something?

Who knows, I might be thinking too much.

Nodding at him, there was a period of silence as we walked on.

For once, I felt like breaking the silence.

And so I did.

"If you want, you can drop by my place. I think Puga misses you."

While I had no idea why I offered that, other than the fact Puga likes Rin, I felt like he needed to talk about something.

Rin looked surprised, before a small smile slowly crept up his face.

"Okay then."

.

* * *

Puga lay in the middle of the porch, sleeping. Rin and I sat on either side of her. The awkwardness was so thick that I could almost choke on it.

"Hey, Minami?"

"What is it?"

I automatically lifted my gaze off the floor to look at him.

"I'm going to Australia."

My light blue eyes widened as I looked at him as he elaborated.

"I'm going there to pursue swimming, because I want to be an Olympic swimmer."

Rin had mentioned that once, but I didn't put great thought into it. I remained silent as I looked at the floor.

Should I be happy for him? Was it okay to be sad that he was leaving Japan?

"I'm going to miss Japan."

At the confession, I looked up at him, slowly letting out a sigh.

"You're going to pursue your dream, right?"

As a confirmation, Rin nodded slowly.

"Then don't give up on it."

A smile spread across his face as he responded.

"Thanks, Minami."

 _Silence._

"I'll be leaving next week, after the relay in the swimming event."

At that, I gave him a smile. Somehow, I felt glad that he would spend his last day in Japan swimming with his friends.

"You guys better win." I stated jokingly, the smile on my face widening.

Rin broke into a grin, as I glanced at his eyes. They were shining now, and I felt the same kind of warmth I felt just now when I raced with him.

It was then did Puga woke up. She licked me in a greeting before bounding over to Rin, positively tackling him. It seemed that the small puppy had caught him off guard as he laughed brightly and proceeded to pet it.

When it was time for him to go, I decided to see him on his way. Securing Puga's lead, I locked up the front gate and walked along with him, Puga bounding happily in front of us. As we approached his house, I could faintly hear the voice of a young girl calling out something from inside the house.

"See you, Matsuoka."

Lifting my hand, I spoke, waving as Puga barked in farewell. School ended a week ago, and that meant today might be the last time I saw Rin. Or at least, talked to him.

"See you, Minami!"

After he said that, Rin suddenly held out his fist and looked at me expectantly. Tentatively, I bumped his fist with my own and gave him a tiny smile.

Walking over to the front of his house, he stopped suddenly, his eyes reflecting a pretty shade of crimson.

"You know, you should talk more in class, Minami. Also... "

He paused, as if wondering if he should continue his statement.

"You look nice when you smile, that's why you should smile more."

My eyes widened as he gave me his signature brilliant smile. Giving an embarrassed laugh, he waved as he ran into the house, shooting me a final glance. Stunned, I stood there even when his maroon locks long vanished from my sight.

That day when I walked home with Puga by my side, I might have felt lonely, but I found myself smiling.

.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So there was a few more interactions (or rather, 2), a minor timeskip, and a farewell. Rin and Aoi are not very close, but Rin still considers Aoi a friend and at the end of the chapter, she considers him her first friend. He's important to her and will play a huge part in her character development later on *wink wink***

 **So Rin is leaving for Australia. He won't be back that quickly but do expect his return soon c:**

 **If you think I should continue this, do favorite and follow ^^ Please review as well, because I want feedback xD**

 **(This is my first time writing in first person, should I continue with this?)**

 **Until next time :)**

 **-Cyan Rubies**


	5. Looking Back

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free!**

 **If you enjoyed, do remember to review, favorite and follow :)**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _Chapter 4: Timeskip_

 _._

 _"It's not about being accepted. It's about being true to yourself and showing the world who you really are."_

 _._

* * *

 **Aoi's POV**

* * *

.

Two years ago, Mama went to work in Australia, where Dad was working as well.

No one ever came to the house except for Puga and I.

Iwatobi Swimming Club closed down, and I stopped swimming. Instead, I took up jogging. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it never did give me the same pumped up sensation swimming did.

So now I'm in Iwatobi High School. I joined the track club, but I mostly only ran for long-distanced events.

My short hair grew long, and I grew taller. My broad shoulders meant that I looked stout when I was younger, however, now that I was taller, it looked more... normal. No one would ever think I was a boy again, and while I was relieved at the fact, it would take a long time to adapt to- After all, I spent the whole of my childhood being known as 'Aoi-kun'.

And the last time I saw Matsuoka Rin was four years ago, when he, along with Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa won the swimming relay.

We contacted each other through Skype, and I helped tutor him in English for a while. Wherever he was, he seemed happy.

However, after a while, the Skype calls stopped coming in, and Rin never sent me an email ever since.

 _What happened, Rin?_

.

* * *

"Aoi-san!"

A bright voice called and I turned behind, a smile appearing on my face.

"Hello, Kou-chan."

I look up to see a familiar girl. She has bright red eyes, and her face is framed nicely with her burgundy locks, her hair tied up in a high ponytail.

Meet Gou Matsuoka, the most adorable girl in existence, and also Rin's younger sister.

It's a shame that Rin never introduced us. Gou was like a ray of sunshine, and we get along fairly well. We met in middle school, and coincidentally I bumped into her- and when she introduced herself, I realized that she was Rin's sister. I asked her about how he was doing but her expression told me not to ask any more about him.

Unlike me, Gou had the misfortune of having a boy's name. The boyish name hardly suited a girl like her, and that was why she insisted on being known as 'Kou'.

"Do you want to join me and Hana-chan for lunch today?"

That's right. We were a year apart, but our lunch period was the same.

I smiled at the offer. After all, there was no way I could say 'no' to her.

"Sure. See you later, Kou-chan!"

Waving, I walked towards the direction of my classroom. I was running quite late. I sort of overslept but I wasn't that late either. I guess Gou's classes started a little later because she was a first year.

As I walked into class, I smiled brightly at the students already inside. Most of us were together since middle school, and to my surprise, some of them smiled back at me, and it made me... happy.

As the door to the classroom slid open, I glanced up in vague curiosity and gave a wide grin upon catching sight of a tall olive brown-haired boy with a black-haired boy behind him.

"Good morning, Makoto-kun, Haru-kun!"

As I waved at them, a smile appeared on Makoto's face as he greeted back kindly.

"Good morning, Aoi-san."

Haruka looked at me with his clear blue eyes as he kept silent. The only indication that he heard my greeting was a blink as he walked past me and sat down in his seat.

I had started to talk to them after Rin left. One day, I had come across them near the big sakura tree in the old school compound. They had been examining the bricks that our class had decorated with their own drawings and sayings.

I can't remember what everyone wrote, but I do remember that Haruka wrote 'Free', and Rin wrote 'For the Team'.

School just started yesterday, and Haruka didn't turn up yesterday. We had gotten a new teacher whom we affectionately dubbed 'Ama-chan-sensei'.

"Good morning, minna!"

Oh, there she is now.

Sensei had chocolate brown shoulder-length hair and dark brown eyes. She seemed really nice and gentle, so I quite liked her.

(Not to mention, she gave us a quote from a historian and I was quite fond of old, deep quotes for some reason.)

Yesterday, she had quite some confusion with my name and Makoto's names. I guess it was normal to confused with names, especially unisex names, but unfortunately for Makoto, Sensei thought that he was a girl until she looked up from the name list.

As Amakata-sensei started to read off the name list to take attendance, my gaze unconsciously drifted to outside the window. For the first time, I wasn't thinking about something completely random, but I was thinking of the old Iwatobi Swimming Club. And Rin.

"Minami Aoi-san?"

I jolted up and raised my hand partially, as I shot Amakata-sensei an embarassed smile.

"Nanase Haruka-san?"

As if on cue, snickers broke out throughout the classroom, and Makoto raised his hand as he hastily called out.

"Sensei! Haru's a boy!"

Amakata-sensei looked extremely embarrassed at her mistake. With a shake of her head, she immediately replied.

"Gomen, Nanase-kun!"

Haruka almost looked like he was used to it, as he blinked a couple of times before swiftly turning towards the window, his clear blue eyes staring out at the equally clear blue sky.

.

* * *

Much to my chagrin (and surprise), I was elected to be the class chairperson, for the oddest of reasons. Apparently, my classmates had thought that I would be a good representative because I was good at talking.

I had taken Rin's advice and started to talk more to those around me, and I decided to start smiling more, too. I knew for a fact that Rin was mostly a sincere person, and I am really grateful for his advice.

"Minami-san! I look forward to be working with you!"

A bright and bubbly voice drifted to my ears as I turned around and saw a beaming face. It was Kosuke Shiota, the newly-elected vice-chair of the class. I briefly wondered why he was not the chairperson instead, however, I could tell that we would get along fairly well.

"I look forward to working with you as well, Kosuke-kun."

As a smile appeared on my face, I accepted his outstretched hand and shook hands with the black-haired boy.

Watching as the vice-chair took his leave, I waved before turning to the window nearby, before proceeding to pick up my bento. It was time to look for Gou and her friend Hana-chan.

When Rin told me to talk more and smile more, I took it to heart. At first, it was terribly awkward to approach my classmates and even more so to talk with them. Smiling never came to me naturally, however, so in the beginning, it was strange.

But soon enough, I realized that I was happy whenever I talked with others, and from that day I decided that I would show it to them with a smile- Not a forced one, but with one that came naturally.

Like how I had smiled when Rin was still around. I still remembered the shade of his hair and how his eyes reflected a pretty shade of red when he was happy- Little things like that.

Other people would say that I had changed a lot since I was young, but I beg to differ.

My mind is still on hyper drive. I still stare out of the window and think about the mysteries of life. I still think about the topic of friendship. I still find it awkward around people.

But now, I've learned how to express my feelings, right?

And that's why I want to see you again, Rin.

Because you were my first friend, and I want to express these feelings to you.


	6. Believing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free! I only own my OCs.**

 **If you enjoyed, do remember to review, favorite and follow xD**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 5

.

 _"Sometimes, it is good to keep believing in someone."_

 _._

* * *

.

 **Aoi's POV**

I looked down at my bento, before clapping my hands together and averting my eyes.

"Thanks for the meal."

Picking up my chopsticks, I started to eat my chopsticks as I listened into Gou and her friend Hana-chan's conversation. They seemed to be talking about... muscles? I inwardly cringed at the enthusiastic mentions of 'abs' and 'biceps' and 'triceps'.

I totally forgot about Gou's (extreme) muscle fetish, and the unnecessary images in my head were mortifying.

Gou was gushing to Hana-chan about wanting to see more muscles while the girl simply listened on with wide eyes and a great interest.

I could feel heat creeping up my face as I turned towards my bento and determinedly stuffed a few balls of rice into my mouth, chewing furiously.

"There are hardly any guys with muscle here in Iwatobi, huh..."

Gou lamented as she sighed, her red eyes staring wistfully into the space in front of her.

"Actually, Kou-san, the guys in the Track Club are quite muscular." I blurted out. Maybe I was a pervert, maybe I wasn't, but it was impossible not to notice their muscles, at any rate.

 _And Haru and Makoto probably have muscles, too. They swim. Or at least, they used to._

I silently added in my head. It was quite probable, though. I had witnessed what puberty had done to them and I could safely say that puberty finally decided to do the right thing. Puberty made me unsuitable for swimming yet at the same time, gave me broad shoulders. While I hardly looked like a boy anymore I bet that I barely looked like a girl.

On the other hand, puberty produced two gorgeous guys from two adorable dorks. How unfair.

The burgundy-haired girl's eyes widened as sparkles seemed to dance in her large eyes in her delight. Gou almost looked like she was imagining the sight of the guys from the track club, displaying their muscles for her to see.

"Kou-san, sometimes I wonder if you're a pervert."

Gou puffed out her cheeks slightly as she pouted, shaking her head as she replied, sounding indignant and somehow embarrassed.

"I'm not! I just like looking at them."

Hearing the flustered tone that she hardly used, I gave a knowing smile. She totally _was_ a pervert.

"Don't worry, Kou-san. You're not alone."

I stuffed a piece of chicken in my mouth, and savored in the fragrance of the tender flavour.. Gou stared at me, flabbergasted, with her maroon eyes as wide as saucers at the open and blatant proclamation.

There was silence for a while, and I resumed eating my bento as I stared at the vast, blue sky, the serene expression on my face probably unfitting of the declaration mere seconds ago.

.

* * *

"Aoi-senpai, your timing improved by 3 minutes!"

I breathed heavily, shooting a glance at my junior as I rested. I was quite glad that my 4-km run timing has improved... After all, I wasn't in top shape earlier when I started my run, so I was worried that my stamina may have been affected. It seemed that that was not really the case, because a 3 minute improvement was a big one.

However, if I wanted to clinch the first prize for the cross-country event, I still needed to cut down another few more minutes. Normally, there wouldn't be long-distanced events at track tournaments, however, those in the track club could join the cross-country event if they wanted to, and it would still be considered an achievement from the club itself.

And so I did. I enjoyed long-distanced events rather than sprints anyway. When you ran long-distance, you could always make up for lagging behind even if you spaced out in the middle of the run... Or rather, sprints were too intense for someone like me, who couldn't handle pressure that well.

(Speaking of pressure, I should have turned down the offer to be the class president. Seriously, being class president is basically being the one who does everything. The only purpose of the vice-president is to stand up, give inspiring talks to the class and look cute while the president is swamped with paperwork. Geez.)

"Aoi-senpai?"

Oops. I spaced out again.

Turning around, I immediately turned to respond to my junior who was in his 2nd year... Ryugazaki Rei. He had peculiar dark blue hair and purple eyes, and his red-framed glasses. I was especially fond of him, because he was the most hardworking of my juniors, and I found it easy to talk with him... Most of the time, that is. There was just some times I had no idea what to say to him, but I guess we could be considered as somewhat close.

(What was I talking about? We were altogether too formal with each other, there was no way we could be close.)

"It's nothing, Ryugazaki. Thanks for helping me time, do you want me to help with your sprints?"

As I reverted to normal, I smiled at the blue-haired boy as he blinked, before giving a nod of his head as he gave just a slight smile.

"I would appreciate that, Aoi-senpai! Thank you!"

Close to him or not, I respected him. He was by far one of the most talented in the club, his speed surpassing mine, though I had more stamina.

Standing at the finishing line, I looked up at him as I readied my timer, holding a whistle in my hand. Sending a glance at Rei, I smiled as I noted he was already in starting position, before calling out.

"Ready?"

He gave a nod and I readied the whistle in my hand.

"Set... go!"

He set off the moment I blew into the whistle, and I stepped back to the side of the track. The moment his foot hit the finishing line, I immediately clicked the 'Stop' button on the timer, peering at the timing of the timer as I did so.

"9 seconds... That's an improvement, isn't it? Good job, Ryugazaki."

I shot him a small smile. His glasses gave a slight flash as if to reflect his satisfaction from this improvement.

"Thanks a lot, Aoi-senpai."

I watched over his improvement during the practice, and in turn he gave me tips about my form. I was really fond of Rei, if that was not already obvious. I could see him in the position of 'Track Captain' in a few more years. Clapping him on his back to congratulate his excellent performance, for a moment, he looked surprised at the gesture but smiled and returned the gesture.

And I realised something as an empty smile crossed my face.

I love track. I really do.

But it couldn't fill that hollow feeling in my heart.

Something was missing.

.

* * *

Unlocking the front gates of my home, I strode inside, ignoring the sinking feeling I had when I glanced at the old, drained-out and unused pool. It reminded me terribly of my swimming days.

A series of excited barking ensued as I could faintly hear the sound of tiny little legs trotting on the floor. Puga came bounding up to me as she began to circle around my legs, before attempting to jump to give me a lick on my face. I smiled at her antics.

These few years, the only person who has stayed by my side was Puga. Ever since my mother left to join my father in Australia, things have not been the same.

Matsuoka Rn, as I remembered him, was a bright boy with a dazzling smile, and the most beautiful eyes. He never meant to, but he left me too. However, he was, after all, my first friend. Rin made socializing look easy while I had struggled with talking to strangers.

It was embarrassing to admit how attached I had grown to him in the short time we had talked to each other.

Heading into the house, I locked the gate behind me as I picked up Puga with some effort- Like most female pugs, she had grown rather chubby. I stroked the top of her head as I set her down in the kitchen, deciding to give her a change in diet- Instead of pet food, Puga would get rice and steamed chicken today, because she has been such a good girl.

Setting down the bowl, I watched on contently as Puga's eyes sparkled seemingly and she bounded towards her dinner. When she was done, I cleaned up and went up to my room to work on my assignments. Expectedly, the fawn pug followed as I heard her soft little taps against the floor.

When all the things I needed to do were finally done(mopping the floor, giving Puga her bath, finishing homework), I sprawled on the my bed. My bones felt like they were on fire from practice and now my back ached. I could hardly find it in myself to even move.

Argh. I felt like an old lady now.

Groaning, I eyed the computer lying on the bed and made a grab for it, adjusting myself in the covers as I started it up, my fingers darting across the keyboard as I keyed in my password.

(Because there is absolutely nothing more comfortable than snuggling up in your blanket and using a laptop).

Logging onto Skype, I scanned the list to see if Gou was online. And indeed, she was. So was Hana and Makoto.

(Honestly, I shouldn't bother contacting Haru. I don't even know what he does at home, but he definitely doesn't use Skype.)

I was about to click on 'Matsuoka Gou' to initiate a chat, when all of a sudden, a new name appeared under her name. My mouth fell open, and I could feel Puga squirm in my covers, as if sensing my shock.

My mouse hovered over the new arrival.

 _Matsuoka Rin._

How long has it been since Rin signed onto Skype? With a pang, I recalled dozens of unanswered Skype calls and unanswered emails. If I hadn't known better, I would have shrugged it off as him simply not checking his notifications.

But something had definitely happened to Rin. And it was painful, to see his name in the flesh, in the knowledge that he would not reply even if I asked him what happen, and that he would not accept my concern for him.

Briefly, I considered messaging him, for old times' sake. To see if he was okay.

To see if he was still the same Matsuoka Rin I knew.

However, I just couldn't bring myself to start a chat. Gripping my fists, I took a deep breath to calm the pounding of my heart. For what reason, I didn't even know.

I had to have been staring at his name for at least 10 minutes. It wasn't that I loved to waste time, I just couldn't believe that it was real. At this point, seeing someone like Haru online would have been less of a surprise.

Puga crawled up to me and began to slobber me with her kisses again. I wondered if somehow, the little pug knew that Rin was somewhere out there, on Skype for once. She had been extremely fond of him, after all.

As I tried to navigate with Puga in between me and the screen, I ended up accidentally signing out of Skype.

Groaning, there was a shuffle of movement as I rearranged myself- Holding Puga with my left arm, I balanced the computer on my thighs as I hurriedly logged back into the chatting software.

Rin wasn't there anymore.

The sinking in my heart felt more terrible than ever.

 _So close, yet so far._

I played with the idea that he had been waiting for me to message him myself, and had given up when I seemingly logged out. It was one of the most far-fetched idea I had ever sprung up with- Firstly, I doubted that Rin really cared about me, secondly, he could have been the sort of person who uses Skype but ignores everything and thirdly, it's been four years, why would he message me now, of all times?

Call me a hopeless romantic.

I gave up on that idea, and instead decided on the idea that he had probably not noticed me online at all. It was more plausible than the other delusion, at any rate.

But still, something in me longed to interact with him in some form, and the anxiety was eating away at my heart, screaming at me to do something already.

So I searched up his name and typed up a short message.

.

 _Hey Matsuoka! It's been a long time since we last talked, anything you up to?_

 _._

It sounded casual enough, and it left me satisfied. Something in me couldn't help but wonder if he would reply back, or if he would even sign in again. After all, he hasn't replied to anything for years.

But him finally showing up online was a good sign.

It was a tiny glimmer of hope, close to vanishing but still there.

That was what I told myself as I logged out once more, shut the computer, and prepared for sleep.

 _After all, there's nothing wrong to keep hoping, even if I am the one let down at the end of the day._

 _._

* * *

 **To be continued.**

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hey guys! So yeah... I'm not dead xD**

 **Here's another chapter for you all, and I hoped it was alright, because I'm really bad at first person D:**

 **If you liked, do remember to review, follow and favourite, because that was honestly that's a major reason I decided to update.**

 **Thank you all for the support, and I'll see you all again soon!**

 **(P.S. Aoi does _not_ have a crush on Rin. She just admires and misses him. A lot.)**

 **-Cyan Rubies**


	7. Returning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Free!**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, do leave a review, favorite and follow :D**

 **.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

 **.**

 _"Hope. Even if just a flicker, it's still there."_

 _._

* * *

 **.**

"Yo, Aoi-chan!"

The bubbly and familiar voice sent my hair standing as a pair of arms vaulted around me from behind, and I nearly fainted. Looking back tentatively, bright pink eyes met my own blue ones as a splash of red promptly dusted across my cheeks as on instinct, I began to squirm in a pathetic attempt to get away from the boy in who was currently holding me in a relentless and persistent glomp.

The blatant invasion of my personal space made me panic, and furthermore, it was _him._

My throat feeling dry, I swallowed as I continued to squirm against the blonde in my own newfound anxiety, before opening my mouth to speak when something was suddenly shoved into my mouth and I gagged reflexively before closing my mouth, giving the chocolate that was suddenly shoved into my mouth a few chews. It was dark chocolate filled with strawberry jam, and it was no doubt the strawberry blonde's way of getting me to talk to him.

Swallowing, I struggled free before spinning on my heel, turning to face him as I gave a sigh. Despite my exasperated demeanour my cheeks felt oppressively warm and I had no doubt that I was blushing furiously like an idiot.

"W-What do you want, Nagisa-kun?"

Nagisa beamed at me brightly, seemingly glad that his way of _shoving-awfully-nice-chocolate-into-mouth_ plan had worked out effectively.

Predictably, I met him when the Iwatobi Swim Club was still open and when I used to swim. Nagisa was impossibly good at the breast stroke, and while I was fairly good at that, I specialised more in the front crawl, but I was fairly okay in the breast stroke. For some reason, even though I was older than Nagisa by one year, he seemed to love picking on me for some strange, obscure reason. Maybe he thought I was a good victim for his relentless teasing, but his constant invasion of my personal space was embarrassing.

 _Wait._

 _Hang on._

I focused more on him and less on his invasion of personal space and I gaped at his Iwatobi High School uniform. Nagisa certainly had not entered Iwatobi High School, hadn't he gone to another school?

"Nagisa-kun... You transferred?" My voice sounded small.

"Yup! I'll be staying here until graduation!"

His reply was bubbly as usual, but somehow I felt that there was an eerie undertone under his cheerful voice. An undertone that felt suspiciously like ' _I'm gonna haunt you forever!'_

I gulped at the thought of of going through Nagisa's mischief every hour of the day. Maybe he had changed from the last time, but I didn't exactly relish the idea of blushing 24/7.

At least we were in different years. It would be a disaster if he was in the same year as me and became my new classmate...

Still, Nagisa was my friend, and I considered him to be a precious and (adorable) little guy.

Sighing in resignment, I gave him a small grim smile.

"Heh, welcome to Iwatobi, kid." Briefly, I patted him on his back (in an awkward fashion).

"Wah, Aoi-chan's acting cool!" His pink eyes shone with mirth as his lips curled up in a grin.

My face reddened and I began to push him along the corridor in an attempt to hide my obvious embarrassment, grumbling as I prodded him along.

"Shut up and head to class!"

.

* * *

Lunchtime soon came, and like always, I went up to the roof in search of familiar burgundy hair. Or at least, I was about to when the vice-president of my class suddenly came running out to call for me.

"Minami-san!" Kosuke stopped, heaving over as he panted.

"Amakata-sensei wanted us to help with confirming everyone's current club activities!" He continued, pulling out the neatly-folded list from one of his pockets. My eyes landed on it with a sort of distaste, because surely that was the teacher's job? Unless all we had to do was pass the paper around and sign, of course.

"Kosuke-kun, let me look at the list." I held back a sigh as I took the list over... and there were just names. No clubs that needed to be ticked against, only a bunch of blank boxes beside a list with at least thirty people.

So now we had to write down everyone's clubs.

"Did she mention when she needed this back?" Hopefully, I glanced at the boy. It was lunchtime. School was two hours away from ending. If it was by the end of school, or by tomorrow, it was possible to just pass the list around in class.

Kosuke scratched the back of his head, ruffling his sandy hair.

"Actually... she said that she needed it in about thirty minutes." He admitted sheepishly, and I died inside.

 _Goodbye, lunch. It's time to rush._

I looked at my untouched bento in my hands, and I groaned. Who thought that it would be a good idea for someone like me to be class president in the first place. And seriously, sensei?

"Kosuke-kun, you're in photography, right? Good. Sign here." I scribbled the club beside his name and had him sign it.

"Good, good." I scribbled down 'Track and Field' beside my own name and signed against it.

Two down, and twenty-eight more youngsters scattered around the school to go.

"Kosuke-kun, take out your phone, please. It's time for some mass texting." The way I said it might have sounded like ' _Class, take out a piece of paper, we're conducting a surprise test!'_ , but then I took out my phone, punching in numbers and scanning down the list for people whose clubs definitely didn't change. Haru and Makoto weren't in any clubs, from what I remembered last time.

As Kosuke and I tallied our responses, I cracked my knuckle and furiously I began to write.

.

* * *

"That sucked."

"Yes, it did."

"Think it will happen again?"

"I'm afraid so. Amakata-sensei is strangely frivolous when it comes to class affairs."

In a nutshell, those are the reactions of both Kosuke and I whenever Amakata-sensei leaves the two of us unexpected 'presents'- more like nightmares. Seriously, sometimes I wonder what she does in that office of hers (though I suspected that it greatly has to do with literature and books).

Kosuke looked a mess. His normally sandy-colored hair is weirdly ruffled up, his glasses were smudged, and he looked like a skeleton, mainly because he hadn't gotten time to eat both breakfast _and_ lunch. I would say 'I'm sorry you had to go through that', but well, I go through that on a daily basis as well. It would have been strange if I said that.

So I amended my statement a little.

"I'm sorry _we_ had to go through that." I sighed, and Kosuke looked like he still considered it strange.

He almost looked like he was ready to face-palm himself. Hey, I know I'm an embarrassment but that was brilliant.

"Sorry, Minami-san, but why are you apologizing? It's not like you're Sensei." He remarked, rubbing his hand against his forehead.

"Well, I'm sorry that we had to go through time and time again because neither of us have the guts to bring it up to Sensei." I amended.

Kosuke was silent for a while.

"Good point." He jerked his head, and wandered off somewhere. I wonder if he was walking off to the canteen for food, but I think he didn't know that the stalls in the canteen closed at 4, sometime after most lessons end, and it was already about 5.

(We had stayed back to fix some paperwork. Thankfully, it wasn't all pushed to me now. Being class representatives sort of suck, it meant more work, and more things to do.)

I let out a sigh. Gou was going to kill me for skipping out on her. I was starving. I was probably going get figuratively 'blue-ticked' on Skype by Matsuoka. Mother and father were in Australia, working their butts off. Amakata-sensei was probably going to pull more stunts like that on me and Kosuke. Puga was alone at home. Speaking of which, I should really hurry up on the way home.

I've never liked leaving Puga alone at home. I've always worried that something might happen to her and nobody else would be there. ALl these years, Puga was the only one who stayed by my side. Everyone else left. Even now, I somewhat have a friendship going on with Gou and her friend Hana, and I'm sort of acquainted with Haru and Makoto(more of Makoto, because he talked more.) Nagisa, the deceptively-cute and secretly-evil junior who loved to bug me, but I don't really have anyone to confide in, now that I thought of it.

It's probably why I began to surf the internet, or why I made a Skype account, because I hoped that it would help me not feel so alone.

(It did work, to an extent.)

Faltering in my footsteps, I walked past Gou's house to get to mine and I wondered briefly if I should drop in on her. But Puga was at home, all alone, so I decided to just head home and message her. Stopping in front of the gate in front of my house, I unlocked it and stepped in, closing it behind me.

Within seconds, Puga squirmed out of the small dog-door installed in our main door, bounding atop tiny little limbs. She let out a small bark and circled around me in tiny trots, before wriggling to sit in my lap. Laughing, I picked her up and set her inside, scratching her ears and throwing down my school bag, securing my valuables in my pocket and retrieving Puga's leash. First, I walked her around the house (the old, unused pool outside haunted me.) Then, I unlocked the gate and went back outside, shutting it.

Puga yipped in delight, and if I didn't know any better, I would say that she was laughing.

We walked around the parameter of the neighborhood, Puga bounding ahead as far as possible on the pink leash and on the other hand, my eyes were scanning the surroundings almost routinely, because Puga was my precious baby, and I won't let anything dangerous so much as get near her.

No cars? Check. No bicycles? Check. No stray dogs? Check. No people? Good.

I sighed, watching as Puga eventually fall back by my side. I didn't realize that it was getting dark. If this was I Am Legend or Until Dawn, I would have begun freaking out, but alas, we were just in a peaceful part of Japan. Not to mention, there were streetlamps that were extremely bright. Nevertheless, I didn't like to take chances.

As we passed the bend, I noted the spot outside the Matsuoka's house (aka Gou's house), and I couldn't help but fondly remember the time that I walked Rin home from my house, and his parting tips for me. Number one, talk more. I wasn't exactly social, I could talk but I couldn't socialize and make lots of friends. But I guess in that aspect, I wasn't so antisocial anymore. Number two, smile more. I smiled a lot more now, but sometimes I just smiled because it was awkward.

Walking past the Matsuoka's, we made it back to my place- the dark, dusty house in the neighborhood avoided, because it just looked creepy from only one person living in it. (Actually, my house wasn't that dusty, I cleaned it everyday.) It was more of an atmosphere issue. A lonely girl and her pug wasn't very inviting unlike, say, Makoto's house. His place was the kind were you wanted to stay forever, because of his bonded family.

I unlocked the gate to the said dusty house and closed the gate behind me, pushing a button that would light up the lights in the porch. Removing Puga's leash, she ran on inside as I began to do my round of housework and my homework for the day. Today was significantly more relaxed, because I got home earlier than usual. Most of the time, I have track, which usually ended at around seven in the evening. Those were the rush days that I had to forgo doing some chores if I wanted to finish my homework on time.

After finishing with the chores and bathing Puga, I was glad that I had only about five questions left after doing most homework in class discreetly. (Shush.)

It was only a matter of time before I toppled onto my bed and flipped open my laptop. It was becoming a routine for me, and I was happy about that, because a routine was something that probably wouldn't change. It would be a constant in my life, and to be terribly honest I was growing sick of watching changes around me.

I didn't check Skype immediately. Instead, out of curiosity I watched the first episode of this shoujo anime called 'Todoke no Kimi' I found a few days ago. Frowning, I wondered why Gou recommended it to me, because it did seem rather cliché in my books. I mean, it was cute and all, but I didn't know why Gou and Hana were gushing all about it before lessons.

And then I watched the next episode, and the next episode, and the next...

Damn. The main protagonist really reminded me of... me, last time. I didn't like the plot (I mean, seriously, don't you guys have homework?!), and I wasn't exactly attached to the anime itself, but the main character was awkward, misunderstood, and needed a friend. She reminded me of the old me, last time, and it really resonated with me. I could relate to her on a lot of levels, and I just found myself rooting for her along the way.

And eventually, I stopped watching, because the protagonist got what she wanted. She opened up, she managed to make friends...

(I sort of felt proud when I saw her opening up finally.)

Forcing myself to close the tab, I instead logged onto Skype, and gosh, Nagisa found my Skype. I nearly had a heart attack, because I was sure no one else would be able to find it, but well, he did. Now I had to deal with his teasing both online and off, but well, he's a nice guy.

Heading to my inbox, I looked over my unread messages and rubbed my eyes incredulously. Did Gou send me two messages from two accounts, or something? Why were there two Matsuoka's?

...Oh. Someone slap me. I must have lost my brain cells.

Scrolling down, I swallowed as my eyes focused on the name ' _Matsuoka Rin_ ' and ' _1 unread message'_ and the only thing I could think of was 'He actually replied?!'. My eyes widened and I found myself staring at his name for the longest period of time.

Taking in a deep breath, I decided that this could go both ways. This could be a snappy message for him telling me to leave him alone, or maybe this could be a message saying 'Hello'.

I prepared myself inwardly, and finally opened my chat with him. My eyes looked over the message I sent first.

.

 _Hey Matsuoka! It's been a long time since we last talked, anything you up to?_

 _._

Underneath it, there was indeed a new message, from Rin himself.

.

 _Hey, Minami. I don't have time to talk right now, but I'll catch up with you once I'm back in Japan._

 _._

Woah. That escalated quickly.

There was a sort of fluttery, too-good-to-be-true feeling rising in my chest, and I stared blankly at the message. It took a while to sink in completely, and I couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that. Was he at the airport? Was he at home packing? The Matsuoka Rin I knew was open and cheery, but I ever did know much about him. This could really be seen by how one message from him was befuddling me.

But one thing was for certain.

I found a smile growing wide on my face, and there was this burning feeling of anticipation and pure, _raw_ happiness soaring in my chest.

"He's coming back." I whispered to nobody in particular, the smile turning more into an excited grin. " _He's really coming back._ "

.

* * *

 **TBC.**

* * *

 **And I finally updated. But well, Rin's coming back. Not immediately, but soon ^^**

 **I'm sorry if you don't understand Aoi's jokes, she's kind of weird. But nevertheless, I hope that you liked this chapter.**

 **If you enjoyed, do remember to leave a review, favorite and follow!**

 **See you soon!**

 **-Cyan Rubies**


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